Practical
Belgium’s floral wholesaler Floréac takes a pragmatic approach to sustainability
By Ron van der Ploeg
Taking a reality check on its sustainability agenda, Belgian floral wholesaler Floréac, based in Lochristi, says it remains fully committed to sustainability. The Dutch invited the company to join the FSI Accelerators group, but it has politely declined for now. While regarded as a standard-bearer for sustainability in Belgium, the company argues that its top priority is increasing certification rates among the country’s flower and plant growers.
Founded by Achiel Floré in 1954, Floréac supplies a wide range of wholesale plants—houseplants (70%), bedding plants (18%), outdoor plants (10%), and plant bowls and accessories (5%)—directly to garden centre chains across France (Jardiland, Point Vert Le Jardin, Gamm Vert, Sévéa, Nalod’s and Delbard), the UK (Dobbies, Haskins and Blue Diamond), Austria (Bellaflora) and Germany (Dehner), with a strong focus on FSI-compliant products whenever possible.
Its customer base also includes supermarket and grocery chains such as Auchan and Costco Wholesale, as well as DIY retailers including Castorama, Leroy Merlin, Brico Marché, Bricorama and Hagebau.
The company employs 120 staff, generates annual revenue of €89 million and operates from two sites: a distribution hub in Bleiswijk, the Netherlands, and its headquarters in Lochristi. Floréac sells an estimated 30 million potted plants per year, representing around 1,000 species sourced primarily from the Netherlands (80%), as well as Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Portugal.
At the company’s headquarters in Lochristi, around 14% of the plants are grown in Flanders. These are mainly niche products, such as Belgian pot chrysanthemums and azaleas, which enjoy steady demand in the French market.
Floréac Annual Revenue
Potted Plants Annually
Sourced from the Netherlands
Committed to sustainability
Floréac’s sustainability manager, Pieter Van De Velde, says the company is fully committed to sustainability without becoming “overly certified.”
The company’s sustainability efforts include measuring its carbon footprint, complying with the Florimark GTP standard, maintaining GLOBALG.A.P. Chain of Custody certification and meeting FSI requirements.
“We want to be a trailblazing company, proving that sustainability, innovation and business growth can thrive together,” says Van De Velde, who notes that Floréac is Belgium’s only member of FSI2030. FSI2030 is widely regarded as the floriculture sector’s leading sustainability initiative, with more than 90 members, including producers, traders, retailers and industry organisations.
Van De Velde explains that FSI members work towards a more transparent supply chain by sharing knowledge, adopting recognised certification schemes and using carbon footprint calculators. The ultimate goal is to prepare the industry for upcoming EU legislation, particularly the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD).
“In the Netherlands, our Dutch colleagues are leading the sustainability transition. Here in Lochristi, the challenge is greater because not every Belgian grower is FSI compliant, to say the least. Without being too pushy, we encourage them to look into certification because specific retailers are increasingly asking for it.”
Floréac’s sustainability manager Pieter Van De Velde. Photo: Alicja Cecot.
Setting achievable goals
Van De Velde also takes a pragmatic view of sustainability.
“It is pointless to claim that your company is fully FSI compliant when part of that claim cannot be substantiated.”
More recently, the Dutch Association of Wholesalers in Floricultural Products (VGB) invited Floréac to join the FSI Accelerators—a group consisting of Dutch Flower Group, FM Group, Van der Plas Group, Royal Lemkes and the VGB secretariat. Collectively, these wholesalers have made more than 82% of their traded volumes transparent through certifications recognised within the FSI Basket of Standards.
The FSI Accelerators act as sustainability ambassadors, supporting the industry’s transition by promoting initiatives such as the Small-Scale Grower Certification Scheme, which offers a simplified certification process for smallholders. They also assist growers and traders—particularly those operating in more challenging production regions—when difficulties arise during certification or audits.
While Van De Velde applauds the group’s efforts to maintain momentum and increase certification rates, he has politely postponed joining.
“We would love to join, but at the moment we cannot because of our Belgian background. Being invited to move faster while our home market is not yet sufficiently prepared does not feel right at this stage.”
It is pointless to claim that your company is fully FSI compliant when part of that claim cannot be substantiated
Pieter Van De Velde Sustainability manager, Floréac
What is Vegaplan NET?
The baseline An audited Belgian certification scheme for non-edible horticultural products, familiar to many growers and required by numerous buyers. What it covers It brings together legal requirements—including Integrated Pest Management, plant passports and planting-material controls—with product safety, traceability and sector-specific quality and sustainability criteria. What it does not cover Vegaplan NET does not provide all the continuous data needed for comprehensive sustainability reporting. Growers may therefore combine it with additional certification schemes.
Gradual progress
Meanwhile, the Belgian Association of Ornamental Horticulture and Landscape Industries (AVBS), of which Floréac is a proud member, continues to support the country’s ornamental horticulture sector in its sustainability journey through knowledge sessions and sustainability conferences held in October 2024 and June 2026.
Certification rates within Belgium’s ornamental plant sector are improving, although progress remains gradual. Following AVBS’s first sustainability event in 2024, the organisation surveyed attendees and received responses from 53 participants.
The results showed that Vegaplan NET (for non-edible horticultural products) is the certification scheme growers are most familiar with.
Vegaplan NET builds on legal requirements such as Integrated Pest Management (IPM), plant passports and planting material controls, while adding sector-specific quality and sustainability requirements.
It combines legally required IPM measures, product safety criteria and traceability into a single audited certification system. As such, Vegaplan NET provides public authorities, customers and inspection bodies with evidence that these requirements have been fulfilled.
The scheme is widely regarded as the minimum market standard for Belgian growers because many buyers require it. However, Vegaplan NET lacks the registration modules needed to generate sufficiently reliable and continuous sustainability data for comprehensive sustainability reporting, such as CSRD and ESG reporting.
As a result, around 70% of Belgian growers combine Vegaplan NET with at least one additional certification scheme.
In June, Pieter van de Velde presented updated certification figures to Belgian flower and plant growers.
2025 Survey Statistics
Belgian supply: 34.0% → 43.3%
Dutch supply: 94.5%
Drivers and constraints of sustainable entrepreneurship
When asked what primarily drives sustainability certification, 33% of respondents cited intrinsic motivation, while 34% said exporters or wholesalers requested certification.
Among growers without an additional certification, half stated that none of their customers had ever requested one, while 14% believed their business did not require certification.
Two years after the survey, Floréac’s Pieter Van De Velde presented updated certification figures to Belgian flower and plant growers at an AVBS sustainability event in June.
FSI compliance among the company’s Belgian plant suppliers had risen to 43.3%, up from 34.0% in 2024. Please note that this percentage should not be misinterpreted as FSI compliance within Belgium’s ornamental horticulture sector as a whole.
By comparison, Floréac’s FSI-compliant supply volumes bought in the Netherlands reached 94.5% in 2025, whereas the company’s FSI volumes bought in Belgium stood at 43.3%. In the presented graphs, the colour red stands for non-certified companies and orange for not sufficiently certified.
Many Belgian plant growers face significant capacity constraints when moving towards comprehensive sustainability reporting. Limited time, administrative burden, insufficient digital systems, lack of specialised knowledge and the cost of data collection remain among the most common barriers.
At the same time, it is equally important to address persistent misconceptions, such as the belief that “sustainability is something the trade imposes on growers” or that “sustainability divides growers rather than unites them.” These often deeply rooted perceptions continue to slow the adoption of sustainable practices throughout the sector.
Floréac returns to Belgian ownership again
From 2020 onwards, Dutchman Cees van der Weij gradually acquired shares in Floréac from the Floré family. This process ultimately resulted in Plantify Partners Europe (PPE), a business structure that also includes Royal Lemkes, becoming the sole owner of Floréac. For several years, Floréac and Royal Lemkes attempted to pool their customer bases, but this proved challenging.
In November 2025, Ms An Vander Aa bought back all the shares, and Floréac returned to Belgian ownership, albeit under a different family.
Left to right: Morton Honoré, An Vander Aa and Rafal Kucharek Damgaard.
Ushering in new ideas
Vander Aa, a trained economist, became the company’s CEO and ushered in new ideas, including what is known as Customer Intimacy. This is a relationship-building strategy in which brands acquire extensive knowledge about their customers and use that data better to meet their needs and expectations in a personalised way.
“We aim to become an international reference point for retailers who want to grow their plant business and extend their product lines,” she says, adding that quality, impeccable and timely delivery are key to driving future growth.
The company stresses that what happened at the holding level since 2020 — with the Floré Group selling its transportation activities to Breewel, the orchid breeding branch Microflor to Labeau, and the azalea and rhododendron breeding company Horti Breed and its Hortinno brand to FlorAmor — should be viewed separately. Floréac never owned these companies and always followed its own course, as did the other companies within the Floré Group.
Strategic collaboration between Plantas and Floréac
Now that Floréac has once again become a Belgian-owned plant wholesaler, the question is: what is next for the company? The latest development is that, in April 2026, Floréac and Plantas announced a strategic collaboration to strengthen their portfolios, maintain consistency and quality, and exchange operational knowledge.
Plantas is a Danish company based in Tilst, near Aarhus, with more than 40 years of expertise as a wholesale supplier of cut flowers, plants and pottery. The Honoré family owns it, with Morten Honoré and Rafal Kucharek Damgaard serving as CEO and CCO, respectively.
An Vander Aa comments: “This collaboration reflects our shared belief in the future of our industry. We face similar challenges, and by working together in selected areas, we can approach these with more resilience and a fresh perspective.”
